The journey my dad took as a young boy from China to the United States amazes me every time I think about it. Consider his story of leaving his mother and walking barefoot to a neighboring village to catch a junk, of sailing down a pirate-infested river, of staying alone in Hong Kong while waiting to catch a steamer ship that would take him one step closer to his father, and of enduring the prison-like internment at Angel Island. I often wonder if I would have had the courage to do what he did. The experiences of leaving his mother and of the traumatic journey are forever etched in his soul. They influence him everyday of his life. They molded him into a determined, hard-working man of integrity and, more importantly, a loving husband, father, brother, and loyal friend. Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

#1 – Sacrifices
I cried while watching this video, because I could relate to the sacrifices identified. They are similar, if not identical, to the ones my parents and my grandparents made in order for their children’s lives to be better than their own. We should remember and be grateful everyday for all the sacrifices made for us, and not just on Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Veteran’s Day, or Memorial Day.

#2 – Camping Out In Style Because my parents worked just about everyday of the week, camping didn’t fit into our family’s schedule. That’s not to say we didn’t own camping supplies or enjoy the great outdoors. If we had a camper like the one in When Their Trailer Transforms Into a House . . . , camping out might have been more of a priority!

#3 – Two Kinds of People I laughed when I viewed the article, Clever Illustrations Reveal the Two Kinds of People There Are in the World, because it reminded me of some of the differences between me and my husband. He sets multiple annoying alarms on his digital watch and he bends back pages in books to mark his place. I, on the other hand, rarely set an alarm (because his alarms wake me up), wear a traditional dial watch, and would never dream of defacing a book. What kind of person are you?

#4 – Ways to Repurpose Bottles! I grew up in my parents’ grocery store. Literally. My sister and I played hide and seek in the warehouse, scaling tall stacks of cardboard boxes. We also helped sort coupons and soda pop bottles, while our parents worked. Back in the day, soda pop bottles were made of glass. These days, as we all know, most are made of plastic, a substance with which the world has a love-hate relationship. In an effort to find ways to repurpose plastic bottles, here are 23 Insanely Creative Ways to Recycle Plastic Bottles Into DIY Projects.

#5 – Five for Fathers
“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.”Jim Valvano

“My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.”Clarence Budington Kelland

“I decided in my life that I would do nothing that did not reflect positively on my father’s life.”Sidney Poitier

“In our house, Mother’s Day is every day. Father’s Day, too. In our house, parents count. They do important work and that work matters. One day just doesn’t cut for us.”Margaret Heffernan

“Son, brother, father, lover, friend. There is room in the heart for all the affections, as there is room in heaven for all the stars.”Victor Hugo

In a center that provides services for women and children in need, a small floral bouquet sits in a vase. Sunlight streams in from a window and illuminates a rose, making its outer petals glow. Incredibly, this beautiful example of nature transforms an old fire station, which houses the center, into a cozy and joyful place. Joy is everywhere, if you look for it. It’s in the little things in life.

#1 – Spread Joy
Finding joy makes for a life of never-ending gratitude. Don’t limit yourself to just looking for joy, however. How about spreading some? Here is a little booklet that lists 150 Ways to Spread Joy. Indeed, what goes around, comes around.

#4 – Starfish Story This story speaks of the power of one. We each possess the power to enact positive change in the world:

Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.

Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”

The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”

Cursing myself for deciding to update my computer software on a day I normally post to my blog, I tried to relax and redirect my self-talk. While faced with an unfamiliar computer application that the update forced on me, I remembered the words on a street sign I photographed in Los Angeles last week. Immediately, I turned off the negative self-talk and told myself, “Everything will be fine. You’re a smart gal. You’ll figure it out.” Life can be stressful, frustrating, and challenging at times, but at the heart of it all is you. You are the main character in your play. You write the script. You control character development. It’s your happy ending or not. Do you love yourself enough to let your light shine and be the hero of your life story?

#2 – Tea and Thee “Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.” This quote by Thich Nhat Hanh, introduces Leo Babuta’s post Create a Sacred Space in Your Heart. The article is not so much about drinking tea as it is about recognizing the need to create sacred spaces in your heart for those things in your life that matter most.

#3 – Love That Traveling DogA couple of things strike me as I look through the photos in Photographer Takes His Rescued Dog Maddie On Epic Adventures. First off, I admire the ability of some people to pick up and go. Secondly, I like the composition of Theron Humphries’s photos – especially the images of Maddie in front of captivating scenery. And finally, I realize how much I miss my dog and having the love of a good dog.

#4 – Before I Die . . .
A while back, I took a class on learning how to live a more authentic life. Towards the end of the class, each student was given a piece of paper and asked to write his obituary. The point of the powerful assignment was to shed light on what each of us wanted to be remembered for and to help us focus on what and who were important in our lives. The following TED Talk follows a similar premise. “Before I die . . .” is the unfinished statement that artist Candy Chang asks people to complete. In her interactive public installations, she provides space for people to write down their answers. How would you complete the statement?

#5 – Self-Love and Light
“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to what light I have.” Abraham Lincoln

“Loving yourself . . . does not mean being self-absorbed or narcissistic, or disregarding others. Rather it means welcoming yourself as the most honored guest in your own heart, a guest worthy of respect, a lovable companion.”Margo Anand

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.”Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Reading this six-word piece of flash fiction, purportedly penned by author Ernest Hemingway, always made me feel sad. Like other people, I wondered about the tragic tale and about the fate of the baby. Now, I know of a plausible good ending to the story. A month ago, I decided to sew shoes for my infant granddaughter. I worked on them sporadically throughout the month, as there never seemed to be enough time to sit down for more than five minutes. By the time I finally finished embroidering the last of the three pairs and tried them on Charlotte, they were too small. Babies’ feet grow all too quickly. Alas, I have baby shoes for sale, never worn.

#1 – Workspaces of the Famous Some people think that Ernest Hemingway wrote the six-word story while he was at lunch with friends and not in his office. Was he that much of a literary genius to produce incredible work just anywhere? Where do you do your best creative work and what does your creative space look like? Check out these Inspiring Workspaces of the Famously Creative and see if your workspace more closely resembles that of Georgia O’Keefe or that of Alexander Calder.

#2 – Six Things Hemingway’s six words provoked much thought. Here are six quotes about “six things” that will certainly inspire you at least six times over:

#3 – Toast, Anyone? If you wake up at 6:00 in the morning and are looking for an energy-boosting breakfast, look no further. Here are 21 Energy-Boosting Breakfast Toasts. They all look good to me!

#4 – Six Innovations If you had to name six innovations that made the modern world, what would they be? Author Steven Johnson did that in his book “How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World” and for the accompanying PBS television series. He interviewed last year with SFGate to discuss how he “traveled the globe to tell the little-known stories of men and women who came up with revolutionary innovations of modern civilization.” Read about how he crawled through the sewers in San Francisco and learn more about some of the innovations he researched here.

#5 – Creativity
“Creativity is not a talent or ability. It is the fruit of a person’s decision to matter.”Eric Maisel

In the stillness of a winter garden, where many plants rest to conserve their energy, songbirds flit here and there while singing their songs. When skies are more grey than blue and when landscapes are more drab than vivid, these birds spread joy by serenading us all day long. When was the last time you went outside just to listen to the birds sing?

#1 – Feed the Birds During the winter, don’t forget to keep your bird feeders full and provide a source of fresh water for our faithful little troubadours. If you are wondering what type of food to feed birds in North America, Bird Watcher’s Digest has a list of Top 10 Foods For Winter Bird Feeding.

#2 – Winter in Japan When it’s cold, space heaters and sweaters are my best friends. I rarely heat my entire house, because it seems like a waste of energy when I know I’m going to be in only one room for a significant period of time. After reading the interesting article How to Cut Out Home Heating Oil—Japanese Style, I have greater appreciation for my cozy warm house and a newfound appreciation for what families can gain by not having central heat.

#3 – Free As A Bird Could you quit your job, convert an old rusty van into your new home, travel, and be free as a bird? That’s what Mike Hudson did. In 2013, he quit his job and began the painstaking task of converting an aging van. With the conversion complete, Mike is out and about discovering the world. Check out his blog called Vandog Traveller for details on the conversion and for tales of his travels. I love his list of wants:

#4 – More Awesome Kitchen Hacks If you’re like me, you’ve probably tried many kitchen hacks and discovered that some of them worked and some of them didn’t work. Don’t get discouraged by the past failures, because there are always more hacks to try! Here are 16 Useful Kitchen Hacks You Need In Your Life. Let me know which ones you like the best.

#5 – Break Your Shell
“The bird dares to break the shell, then the shell breaks open and the bird can fly openly. This is the simplest principle of success. You dream, you dare and and you fly.”― Israelmore Ayivor

With a pretty red bow tied around its neck, a ukelele sits under my Christmas tree waiting for nimble fingers to strum it and voices to sing along with it. My husband rarely asks for anything for Christmas, but this year he wants a ukelele. He wants to be able to sing songs to our new granddaughter. On Christmas morning, wrapping paper and ribbons will be strewn all over and there will be food aplenty. More memorably, though, music, love, and laughter will fill the air.

#1 – Sing Along! “Singing is not about being a star or knowing how to do it well. It’s about enjoying the gift of our voices and sharing them with others,” says Tania De Jong, an Australian singer and global speaker. In her article, 10 Reasons to Make Singing Your Happiness Drug and her TEDx Talk, she presents compelling reasons why singing is good for our brains and for our happiness. She also adds, “And it’s free, because we all have a voice!”

#2 – Christmas Decorating Ideas Candle holders made from wine glasses and snow made from salt are just two of the clever ideas found in 23 Stylish and Easy DIY Home Decor Ideas. Just more examples of creative people letting their voices be heard.

#3 – Creatively Wired Chicken wire is not your average art medium, but some creative people around the world use it to make incredible three-dimensional artwork. Click the link to check out amazing examples of chicken wire sculptures.

#4 – Life Lessons From Children’s Books Don’t underestimate what kids can learn from reading children’s books, or adults for that matter. Some phrases from favorite children’s book characters continue to teach us life lessons. Interesting Life Lessons, Adults Can Learn From Children’s Books contains a nice collection of quotes to revisit.

#5 – Be Part of the Choir
“A choir is made up of many voices, including yours and mine. If one by one all go silent then all that will be left are the soloists. Don’t let a loud few determine the nature of the sound. It makes for poor harmony and diminishes the song.”― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

While Charlotte sleeps peacefully in my arms, her tiny hand holds onto the drawstring of my sweatshirt. With this sweet little gesture, she might as well be holding onto my heartstrings. Heartstrings connect all of us together. Throughout the year and particularly during this holiday season, reach out to others and those less fortunate. Connecting heartstrings multiplies everyone’s joy.

#1 – Pieces of Wisdom Certain to touch your heart are these 11 Pieces of Wisdom. With the accompanying back stories, this collection of quotes and sayings shows how people were inspired to alter their paths and change their lives.

#3 – What If The Lights Went Out? As I drove through the dark streets of my neighborhood after a sudden power failure, I wondered what major cities would look like without lights. Serendipitously, I came across this series of photographs of What Cities Would Look Like If We Turned Off The Lights. French photographer Thierry Cohen attempts to remind people “of the starry universe that surrounds them, even if they can’t always see it.” Referring to a typical city resident, he says, “To show him stars is to help him dream again.”

#4 – Tile Game Sometimes when I have a hard time falling asleep, I play computer games. When my eyes are tired, I become sleepy. Here’s a tile game that I just discovered. The deceptively easy goal is to move letters around in a grid until you get a letter K. Duplicate letters in proximity to each other can be combined to advance you to the next letter, but beware of the grid slowly filling up. Piece of cake? Not so. It takes a fair amount of strategy.

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